At The Mic / Au micro

Revitalizing the Capital’s Nightlife Scene with Ottawa’s “Night Mayor”

Join us in a conversation with Mathieu Grondin, Canada's first Nightlife Commissioner for the City of Ottawa. Learn about Mathieu's dynamic journey from Montreal's creative industries to shaping Ottawa's nighttime economy. Discover the initiatives like the Canada After Dark Summit, placemaking projects, and the creation of the Nightlife Council, aimed at transforming Ottawa's cultural and nightlife landscape. Learn about the challenges, successes, and future plans to make Ottawa a vibrant 24-hour city.

Inside the Confederation Centre's "Shared Voices" project with Steve Bellamy

Join us for an engaging conversation with Steve Bellamy, CEO of the Confederation Centre of the Arts, as he discusses the largest rejuvenation project in the Centre's history. Learn about the Confederation Centre's role as Canada's national memorial, exciting upcoming initiatives such as the Arts Academy, Arts Innovation Hub, and Canadian Leadership Institute, and the importance of reconnecting the Centre with Canadians. Discover how this project addresses the needs of the arts and culture sector and what it means for the Centre's future. The Confederation Centre's "Shared Voices" campaign: https://confederationcentre.com/sharedvoicescapitalcampaign/

Financial Management in the Arts in Canada

In this edition of At The Mic, we bring you Heather Young of Young Associates in conversation with the ACCA’s Jane Needles. Heather is an expert in Financial Management for the Arts and has just published two books on the subject which are something that should be on every consultant’s bookshelf and in every Arts Administration teacher’s required reading lists for their students. ACCA recognizes the generous support of Unity Design Studio for sponsoring this podcast! — Unity Design Studio (https://www.unitydesignstudio.ca [https://www.unitydesignstudio.ca]) is a high-ranked B Corp architecture firm with over 50 years experience designing many arts and culture venues, including the new Canadian Canoe Museum which you heard about in our last podcast! Chapters: * 00:00 - Introduction and Welcome * 00:18 - Guest Introduction: Heather Young * 01:05 - Heather's Expertise and Background * 01:44 - Discussion on Heather's Books * 03:17 - Impact of the Pandemic on the Arts * 05:24 - Regional and Organizational Differences * 10:30 - New Financial Models and Community Engagement * 19:07 - Challenges in Arts Administration * 26:29 - Conclusion and Farewell Useful links from this episode: * Purchase “Finance for the Arts in Canada”: https://www.youngassociates.ca/finance-for-the-arts-in-canada [https://www.youngassociates.ca/finance-for-the-arts-in-canada] * Young Associates' free glossary: https://www.youngassociates.ca/glossary/ [https://www.youngassociates.ca/glossary/] * Scale Collaborative: https://scalecollaborative.ca/programs-and-initiatives/ [https://scalecollaborative.ca/programs-and-initiatives/] * Thriving Nonprofits (one of Scale's programs): https://www.thrivingnonprofits.ca/ [https://www.thrivingnonprofits.ca/] * Mass Culture - https://massculture.ca/ [https://massculture.ca/] * Alex Sarian, “The Audacity of Relevance”: https://ecwpress.com/products/the-audacity-of-relevance/ [https://ecwpress.com/products/the-audacity-of-relevance/] * Max Wyman, “The Compassionate Imagination”: https://www.cormorantbooks.com/the-compassionate-imagination/ [https://www.cormorantbooks.com/the-compassionate-imagination/] * David Maggs, “Art and the World After This”: https://metcalffoundation.com/publication/art-and-the-world-after-this/ [https://metcalffoundation.com/publication/art-and-the-world-after-this/] Heather Clara Young, CPB (Principal, Young Associates) founded her company in Toronto in 1993 to provide bookkeeping, payroll, training, consulting and data management services to not-for-profits and charities, specializing in the arts and culture sector. Heather teaches accounting and financial management in Humber College’s Arts Management program, and has taught for Humber’s Fundraising and Volunteer Management program and University of Toronto’s Arts Management program. She was the 2012 recipient of the Sandra Tulloch Award for Innovation in Arts and Culture, and a 2004 recipient of Humber College’s Continuing Education Award of Excellence for Outstanding Academic Contribution. Finance for the Arts in Canada (2005, 2023) is a unique self-study guide, reference source and textbook for the accounting and finance functions in cultural organizations. Heather’s experience includes leadership roles with arts and heritage service organizations, theatre and dance producing companies, facilities, festivals and community organizations. Jane Needles’ wide experience in the arts covers all disciplines of the cultural world, primarily arts administration and teaching administrative techniques.  Her deep involvement with both official language cultures has increased her awareness of their complex diversities. Currently she is President of the Board of the Dollard Centre for the Arts, Secretary to the Board of the Arts Consultants of Canada, Treasurer/Secretary of le Centre d’art Rozynski, and Board member of KingDom Theatre Company (Ottawa) amongst many other involvements with the arts in general.  She taught Arts Administration at Bishops’ University over 27 years. She also taught an on-line Arts Management course for the University of Windsor for five years. She is a mentor for Business for the Arts (Mentoring groups across the country), and also for Futurepreneur, Academos, La Machinerie, Diversité artistique Montreal, En Piste and the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales, as well as others and acts as private consultant to many entrepreneurial organizations.

Unity Design Studio and The Canadian Canoe Museum

In this edition of AT THE MIC, we bring you an exceptional example of how Canadian architects are putting contemporary values into action today. Our guests are Bill Lett and Michael Gallant, registered architects with Unity Design Studio. Unity is a high-ranked B Corp architecture firm with over 50 years experience designing many arts and culture venues, including the new Canadian Canoe Museum. The Canadian Canoe Museum, located on the Traditional Territory of the Williams Treaties First Nations in Peterborough, Ontario, has stewarded, for the last 27 years, the world's largest and most significant collection of canoes, kayaks and paddled watercraft. More than 600 in number, these watercraft and their stories have a pivotal role to play in understanding our past and our collective future. Award-winning local architectural firm Unity Design Studio [https://www.unitydesignstudio.ca/](formerly Lett Architects Inc.) assisted The Canadian Canoe Museum in realizing a creative vision for our waterfront home and campus. Unity Design Studio’s dedicated professionals are passionate about creating connected, happier, and healthier communities. By blending architecture, design, strategy, and engagement, they collaborate to tackle today’s challenges and build resilience. They believe that lasting impact comes from working together, uniting diverse stakeholders around a shared vision to inspire meaningful, positive change. Bill Lett has 25 years of experience and was inducted into the College of Fellows of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada in 2018. He has led the design of major municipal, cultural, healthcare, and institutional projects across Ontario, working closely with diverse stakeholders, administrators, councils, and government agencies. Bill loves to seamlessly integrate buildings into their communities and is dedicated to transforming project delivery by embracing more collaborative design and construction models. Michael Gallant leads Unity’s design direction. He has guided major projects across Ontario, while also serving on boards such as the Electric City Culture Council and Peterborough DBIA where he was chair from 2020-2023. Michael finds inspiration in client collaboration, aiming to create lasting impacts. He also supports Unity’s project teams, ensuring alignment with the studio’s values and strategic goals. Unity Design Studio [http://unitydesignstudio.ca]Canadian Canoe Museum [http://canoemuseum.ca] Integrated Project Delivery Alliance [http://ipda.ca]

Alex Sarian on The Audacity of Relevance

We are back with a new season of At the Mic / Au micro, ACCA’s podcast available now on our YouTube Channel and your favourite podcast platform. We are delighted to kick off this season with a very special guest, Alex Sarian [https://ecwpress.com/products/the-audacity-of-relevance], as he is about to launch his new book, ‘The Audacity of Relevance: Critical Conversations on the Future of Arts and Culture [https://ecwpress.com/products/the-audacity-of-relevance]. ‘ ACCA recognizes the generous support of Unity Design Studio for sponsoring this podcast! Unity Design Studio [https://www.unitydesignstudio.ca/] is a high-ranked B Corp architecture firm with over 50 years experience designing many arts and culture venues, including the new Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough. You’ll hear more about them in the next podcast! In this timely and valuable conversation, our guest Alex Sarian shares some of his wisdom on making arts organizations relevant today gained from his personal experience and that of others. Alex joined Arts Commons as President & CEO in 2020 after seven years of leadership roles at Lincoln Center. In addition to overseeing this major facility in downtown Calgary, he also leads the largest cultural infrastructure project in Canadian history, the Arts Commons Transformation. His new book, The Audacity of Relevance: Critical Conversations on the Future of Arts and Culture to be released later this month is already being praised as a “manifesto for the arts in times of crises.”In this episode of At the Mic, Au Micro, presented by Arts Consultants Canada, we explore how arts and cultural organizations can stay relevant in today's rapidly changing landscape. Guest Alex Sarian, President and CEO of Arts Commons, shares his insights from leading major arts projects in Calgary and his experience with global arts institutions. We dive into Alex's book, 'The Audacity of Relevance,' and discuss critical conversations about the value proposition of the arts, community engagement, and new business models. Don't miss this inspiring talk about the future of the arts in a post-pandemic world.   Alex Sarian: Alex Sarian was appointed as President and CEO of Arts Commons in Calgary in May 2020. He is noted as being the youngest executive to oversee a major performing arts centre in North America. Prior to joining Arts Commons, Sarian held leadership roles in New York City for nearly two decades. He was previously an executive at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, where he led grant-making, global consulting, community engagement, education, and artistic programming for young audiences and families. * Alex Sarian [https://www.alexsarian.com/] * The Audacity of Relevance [https://ecwpress.com/products/the-audacity-of-relevance] * LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexsarian] * Alex Sarian (@alexsarian) on X [https://twitter.com/alexsarian] * Arts and Culture Activator [https://www.tedxcalgary.ca/events/flow-connecting-the-dots/item/476-alex-sarian] ACCA: * ACCA [https://artsconsultants.ca] * LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/arts-consultants-canada-consultants-canadiens-en-arts] * Twitter/X [https://twitter.com/consult_arts] * Subscribe to At The Mic [https://pod.link/1647263308]